On the edge of the fishing village, there is a dilapidated bamboo courtyard.
The man in a grey short coat and bare arms had a mocking look on his face. He spread his arms like an eagle swooping down on a chick and stopped the little woman in a blue shirt with floral patterns.
"A widow can give birth to a child. It's really embarrassing for my brother Yang."
"Fuck you, who is your Brother Yang? You and your village chief are birds of a feather, you damned beast! Get your dirty hands off me!"
The young widow held a child less than two years old in her arms, gritting her teeth like a lioness.
"Hey!" The man was not angry at being scolded, but became more excited: "Why, others can sleep, but I, Meng Xian, can't touch? Today I'm telling you, I don't care even if you strip naked, dirty thing, give it to me!"
As he spoke, Meng Xian reached out to grab the child from the other person's hands.
The young widow's face was ferocious, and she opened her mouth and bit him without thinking.
While the two were arguing, outside the bamboo courtyard, a young man with a muddy face was sitting on the ground. His body was covered with holes and patches, and only one of his straw sandals was left, which had been worn to pieces. His fingernails were full of dirty mud, and even his calves were covered with a disgusting layer of black.
"Hehe... let's fight..."
He had a dazed expression as he watched the two people struggling with each other, but he just slapped the mud hard and laughed with his mouth open, and it was obvious that he was not mentally normal.
"hiss!"
Meng Xian's face changed slightly. He pulled back his arm and looked at the deep teeth marks on his wrist, which were oozing some scarlet blood.
He suddenly became furious and no longer had the intention to tease the other party. He swung his hand and slapped the young widow, causing her to stagger back a few steps and fall to the ground with her buttocks. Her eyes became dazed.
"Okay! Fight!"
The dirty young man was so happy that he actually clapped his hands.
"Shut up, you idiot."
Meng Xian glared at him, took two steps forward, grabbed the crying child in his hand, and sneered, "You unlucky dirty bastard, wait until your bastard son goes into the water, and I will come back on the river waves to take you to enjoy happiness."
"Your mother should go into the water..."
The disheveled widow simply bumped into him with her head. Meng Xian's eyes twitched, and he was about to kick her down, but someone suddenly grabbed his arm.
He looked back angrily, with a look of surprise in his eyes: "Dad?"
The village chief had a gloomy face and said nothing. He just slapped him hard, snatched the child away, put it back into the widow's arms, and then said, "Come home with me."
Meng Xian covered his face with shame and anger, and wanted to say something, but when he turned his head, he trembled all over and ran out without a trace: "Fuck, what a bunch of bastards."
I saw a dark figure walking towards the sound from the distant corner, his hand on the hilt of the knife at his waist. On his handsome face, there was a hint of murderous intent in his clear eyes.
Shen Yi walked around several fishing towers and found the location where the sound came from.
He quickly stopped in front of the bamboo courtyard, looked towards the empty front, closed his eyes to listen to the movement, and took another step.
The young widow walked out of the yard, comforting her son. She smoothed her hair, her face was black and blue, and she said through her cracked lips, "I was wondering why this old dog suddenly calmed down. It turns out that the captain is here. Please come in."
As she spoke, she pretended to block Shen Yi unintentionally.
"…"
Shen Yi stared at her in silence and said calmly, "Doesn't it hurt?"
If it hurts, if it's angry, why would he stop me? Could it be that the river god is more important than my own son?
The young widow was slightly startled, as if she had not expected the other party to ask such a question. She lowered her eyes and forced a smile after a long while: "You have just joined the Demon Suppression Division not long ago, right?"
"What do you mean?" Shen Yi glanced sideways.
"Please come in and sit down." The widow walked into the yard holding her son and dragged a bamboo stool with one hand: "Because the whole Linjiang County knows that the Demon Suppression Division slays demons and eliminates evil, protects the people, and is the best of the good people." Shen Yi hesitated for a moment, and slowly sat down at the other party's invitation.
The widow raised her head, her eyes flickering: "But as the majority, they are the people."
She laughed at herself: "My late husband and I...we are evil people."
Hearing the word "deceased husband".
Shen Yi subconsciously glanced at the child in the other person's arms, then felt something was wrong and was about to look away.
Unexpectedly, the widow didn't care and spat, "I had the child with a dog."
She put the child down, went to the well and wrung out a rag, then walked out of the yard and kicked the madman angrily. Looking at the scarlet wounds on his arms and calves covered with mud, she squatted down and wiped them for him.
Wiping and cursing at the same time.
"You bastard, when I needed you, you disappeared. You were gone for seven or eight days. How come you didn't starve to death outside? I don't know what you can do with your stupidity."
"Go wash your hands and get ready for dinner."
Hearing this, Shen Yi looked over thoughtfully.
The widow explained casually, "He used to be a commoner. He married a wife when he was fifteen or sixteen. It happened to be his turn to have a child, so he had no choice but to force his wife to give birth. Later, because she was too young, the child was difficult to deliver. His wife was lucky and survived."
"The village chief took her away. She wasn't a grown-up girl anyway, so he just sent her to Yangchun River as if she were a girl. He went crazy."
The widow kicked him again with contempt.
Then he explained somewhat dejectedly, "No one wants to give it up, but since other families have given it up, you can't just take advantage of it for nothing. It's passed down from generation to generation. Rather than offering sacrifices to the gods, it's more like taking the opportunity to take revenge on those who drowned their own children in the river."
"Like my late husband, who simply didn't want children, was beaten to death by the waves and his body was never found. This is what evil brings."
"Why doesn't the Demon Suppression Department care? Because they are all pitiful people, but they do abominable things. There are more than four hundred years of grievances. Even if the river god is gone, they still insist on holding a grand sacrifice."
"Great sacrifice! Kill, kill, kill!" The madman grinned, his eyes bloodshot, and laughed crazily: "Kill me first! Kill me first!"
While screaming, he crawled on the ground, came to the young man's feet, and reached out to grab the sword at the other's waist.
Shen Yi did not dodge, but watched the other party holding the black knife in his dirty hands, leaving stains on the shiny black scabbard.
He reached out, and his slender fingers ran through the madman's chicken coop-like hair, then gently grasped it.
The widow was about to turn around and go back to the house to bring out the fish soup. Seeing this, her face changed slightly, and there was a little more fear in her eyes: "Sir, he... he has gone mad... he can't be a commoner, he can't be a bad guy... just spare his life and let him be a mad dog..."
"Kill!" The madman's eyes widened, his eyeballs almost popping out of their sockets, he roared at the top of his voice, with saliva streaming from the corners of his lips, looking like a madman.
Shen Yi looked at his face quietly, the strength between her fingers gradually softened, and she gently stroked the other's head, as if she was comforting a mad dog.
The madman trembled all over and gradually calmed down.
Then, he heard a calm voice, and he felt as if struck by lightning.
"Thanks for the reminder."
Shen Yi raised his thin lips slightly, and a murderous look appeared on his fair face, but his eyes were still clear and his voice was calm as usual: "I will live up to your trust."
The madman disappeared for seven or eight days.
The blood-stained badge was inexplicably sent to Linjiang County. The other party only wanted to pass a message to Qingzhou from beginning to end.
There is a monster here, a big monster!
In the village!!
(End of this chapter)